| Extension | DOCX |
| Full Name | Microsoft Word Document |
| Type | Document |
| Mime Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Format | Binary |
The DOCX file format is the native file format used by Microsoft Word. It was created in the mid-2000s as a successor format to the older DOC file format. The switch from DOC to DOCX allowed for a fresh start, re-building the format from the ground up to be more flexible and easier to extend in the future.
A DOCX is actually a ZIP container file format, with the actual word document data stored within it in the form of many separate XML documents. This separation into individual XML documents means the relevant document components can be grouped together.
The use of the ZIP format as a container wrapper allows the DOCX files to remain small in size compared to the older DOC format. Along with Microsoft Word, there are many other Word processing applications that can open and work with documents in the DOCX format.
| Extension | PDF |
| Full Name | Portable Document Format |
| Type | Document |
| Mime Type | application/pdf |
| Format | Binary |
PDF documents have been around for many years, becoming the standard format for storing and transmitting documents with rich content such as formatted text, images, tables, and other complex formatting. The format is still under development, with new features being added with each revision.
One of the reasons for its widespread adoption is its ability to store all the required document components, especially fonts, within a single file, allowing the document to be rendered equally on different platforms and devices.
PDF documents are read-only, unless opened within Adobe's own editing software. Support for importing and converting to and from the PDF format is widely supported by document editing software.
